Rep. Becca Balint calls the reported Habba contract a pay-to-play pardon scheme and says the pardon power was never meant for whoever has enough money, in a video posted to her official Bluesky account on October 21, 2026.

In a video about the Habba contract, Balint says the pardon power was meant to let a president forgive people who suffered a travesty of justice, not to let people with enough money obtain a pardon.

“It was intended to give the president some latitude to forgive people who had experienced a travesty of justice from the justice system. It was never supposed to be, if you have enough money, you get a pardon.”